Budget cuts hobble community colleges

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Student enrollment at California's community colleges has fallen dramatically in recent years as campuses slashed teaching staffs and course offerings in response to unprecedented cuts in state funding, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California details the impacts of $1.5 billion in state budget cuts between 2007 and 2012 on California Community Colleges, the nation's largest system of higher education.

During that period, enrollment within the 112-campus system dropped from 2.9 million to 2.4 million students, according to the report, which is based on official campus reports and interviews with more than 100 senior administrators.

The enrollment declines were steepest among students returning to school after an absence and first-time college students, researchers said. Enrollment of first-time students fell 5 percent even as the number of high school graduates in California rose 9 percent.

"The decline in access of first-time students is troubling, given California's longstanding need to increase college-going rates for new high school graduates, who are the workforce for the future," said PPIC researcher Sarah Bohn, the report's co-author.

California's community college system, which is known for its low fees and open-access policies, is open to nearly all adults, but in recent years campuses have been forced to turn away hundreds of thousands of students who couldn't get into the classes they wanted.

Across the system, the number of academic-year course offerings dropped 21 percent, summer classes fell 60 percent and class sizes swelled, researchers said. All types of courses were cut, but the drop was most significant for non-credit courses for enrichment or remediation.

The outlook for California Community Colleges has improved since November when voters approved Proposition 30, a ballot measure that temporarily raises the statewide sales tax and income taxes of high earners.

"With the passage of Prop. 30, community colleges are slowly starting to restore the access that was lost, but it will take years for the system to regain its original financial footing," said Paul Feist, the system's vice chancellor for communication.